Lusty Italian models invade America in about two years, starting with the $200K Alfa Romeo 8C Alfa supercar, then three additional models.

Alfa's back! Well, not yet, but soon. Alfa Romeo has told Car and Driver of its plans to bring its sexy luxury automobiles back to where luxury cars sell like nowhere else, the United States, by 2009. We can hear the applause from car enthusiasts from San Diego to Portland, Maine.

That said, most Americans hold little amoré for Alfa Romeo, which left the U.S. in relative disgrace in 1995 due to sagging sales and reliability woes. Since then, several attempts were made to bring Alfa's continuously improving products back, but alas, too daunting was the task of winning American hearts and minds.

Say It With Supercars

Making a splashy entrance in a mouth-watering supercar is one way to win hearts and minds, so Alfa has delegated the stirring, $200,000 Alfa Romeo 8C Alfa to lead the charge, according to Automotive News. The 8C, previewed in hardtop form at the 2003 IAA in Frankfurt, will be based on a shortened Maserati Coupe platform and will be powered by a Maserati 4.2-liter V8 making over 400 hp. The report mentions that Alfa plans to build 500 8Cs a year, 250 of which will be U.S.-bound. Later in 2009, the coupe will be joined by a Spider version of the 8C. Thus resurrected, the marque anticipates a renewed interest in the brand as it launches more mainstream models in 2010 or 2011.

Lofty Goals

Indeed, success in the U.S. is key to Alfa reaching its lofty goal of 300,000 global sales, the point at which it will stop hemorrhaging millions for parent company Fiat. Last year, Alfa sold a mere 126,000 units worldwide, down from 153,000 in 2004. And considering that Alfa has never sold 300,000 units in a single year, that sales goal seems particularly ambitious. The maker's best year ever was 1989, when it sold 229,700 vehicles.